General Linux/yum-related question

[Paul Howarth]

Bob Fletcher wrote:
> I am using FC 5 and still have much to learn about Linux. One issue that
> confuses me relates to the "proper" locations of application files. As a
> specific example, I am using the latest Eclipse package, Ver 3.1.2. 
> 
> However, I am also experimenting with Eclipse on a Windows machine, and
> its version is 3.2. So for comparison purposes, I downloaded Eclipse Ver
> 3.2 to my home directory on my Linux machine. Thus, I now have two
> versions of Eclipse on my Linux machine. (Both seem to work correctly
> with the corresponding CDT plugins.) Nevertheless, this raises lots of
> questions in my mind:
> 
> Is this a sane thing to do?
> Should I try to relocate the files into more appropriate directories?
> Will this mess up yum?
> 
> Please note that I am not too concerned with this specific example. The
> problem arises every time I build new applications from the original
> source files. I am not sure what to do with the created files. Are there
> standard procedures to follow? How will this affect yum-related
> installations?

General rules of thumb:

* Don't tinker with anything installed using rpm/yum as it's all 
recorded in a database and overwriting/shuffling around files will break 
the operation of the database.

* If you download and install something manually, put it anywhere you 
like as long as it's not somewhere likely to conflict with packages you 
might install using rpm/yum. Good options include /usr/local, /opt, or 
your home directory.

So what you're doing looks OK to me.

Paul.